This article was originally published in Reuters in April 2025. Below is a longer version.
Byrnihat, a small industrial town on the Assam-Meghalaya border, has been ranked the “world’s most polluted metropolitan area” in the World Air Quality Report 2024 released by Swiss group IQAir
Sumaiya Ansari is barely three years old but she has spent more than half her life struggling to breathe, one among the thousands inhaling the toxic air of the world’s most polluted town situated on the easternmost edge of India.
Byrnihat, a small industrial settlement of around 5000, straddling the border of the northeastern states of Meghalaya and Assam, was ranked the “world’s most polluted metropolitan area” in the World Air Quality Report 2024 released by Swiss group IQAir in March.
The town recorded an average PM2.5 concentration of 128.2 micrograms per cubic meter in 2024, more than 25 times the World Health Organisation recommended level of 5 micrograms. PM 2.5 refers to small, hazardous airborne particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs causing deadly diseases.
In comparison, India’s capital Delhi —notorious for its high levels of pollution— had a concentration of 108.3 micrograms during the same period.
Ansari’s respiratory issues— a debilitating mix of cough, chest congestion, and rapid breathing began when she was just one, leading to frequent visits to the local healthcare centre in Byrnihat. But on March 27, following a long night of distress, The toddler was ferried off to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), the largest state-run facility in the region, located 14 km away, and placed on oxygen support.
“It was very scary, she was breathing like a fish,” said Abdul Halim, her father, who runs a small furniture shop along the factory-lined, dusty national highway that runs through Byrnihat.
Ansari was discharged two days later after doctors diagnosed her with “wheeze-associated lower respiratory infection” (WALRI), a common but painful condition in children, often triggered by bacteria, viruses, or environmental pollutants.
“It is not possible for us to identify the exact cause of the disease, but increased pollution is a known risk factor for respiratory illnesses in general,” Dr Prabal Barman, a paediatrician at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) working on Ansari’s case, told Reuters.
Ansari’s parents blame her illness on the toxic air from the factories in Byrnihat. Government data shows the area is home to 80 industries, many of which are polluting, including those producing coke, paving blocks, ferroalloys, cement, brick, and operating distilleries, across both Meghalaya and Assam.
The family’s modest two-room home, located on a hillock, has at least three factories within a one kilometre radius: a road construction factory and brick processing unit 200 metres away, and a cement industry about 700 metres away.
Halim, too, has been suffering from a chronic cough and breathing difficulties over the last year. “I’ve gone through countless bottles of cough syrup myself,” he said.
Respiratory infections rising
Studies conducted by Indian authorities (both the Assam and Meghalaya governments) identify several key factors contributing to pollution in the area, including non-compliance to pollution control measures by industries, emissions from heavy vehicles that routinely pass through the area, road dust, hill-cutting and improper sewage and garbage disposal.
Experts said the town’s “bowl-shaped topography” also exacerbates the issue.
“Sandwiched between the hilly terrain of Meghalaya and the plains of Assam, there is no room for pollutants to disperse,” said Arup Kumar Misra, chairman of the Pollution Control Board, Assam.
For the residents of the area, it is a curse they have to live with.
Five-year-old Ibamilari Dkhar has been plagued by a persistent cough and frequent dizzy spells for the past nine months.
Twenty-year-old Reshmi Pariyar often wakes up to coughing fits in the middle of the night by coughing fits, and at school, her body itches and eyes water constantly, forcing her to miss classes. “The doctors told me it was my skin reacting to dust,” she said.
Cases of acute respiratory infections in Byrnihat have surged over the past two years, rising from 2,082 in 2022 to 3,681 in 2024, data (reviewed by Reuters) from the town’s primary healthcare centre showed.
“Ninety percent of the patients we see on a daily basis come in either with a cough or other respiratory issues,” said Dr. J Marak of Byrnihat Primary Healthcare Centre.
Neither the Assam nor Meghalaya government — under whose jurisdiction Byrnihat falls —has conducted a health impact study yet.
Rapid industrialisation
Tall betel nut trees line the settlements of Byrnihat but the smoke from factories on the horizon serves as a constant reminder of the poor air quality the town’s residents face daily.
Farmer Dildar Hussain’s once-thriving vegetable farm, where he grew cabbage, chilies, and cauliflower, now lies desolate. In a few patches where some vegetables remain, the cabbages are covered in soot, their leaves riddled with holes—residue from a distillery just a few meters away.
“Forget vegetables, it’s hard for even humans to live here. Everything is covered with dust or soot,” Hussain said, pointing to the blackened walls of his one-room mud hut.
The rapid industrialisation in Byrnihat—39 in Assam and 41 in Meghalaya—has provided livelihood to the locals, but also presents them with health hazards.
Critics say it reflects a broader national trend: India’s breakneck industrial push is eroding environmental safeguards. “Earlier, there were strict laws on what kind of land could be used for industries. Now, you just have to submit an affidavit and set one up,” an Assam government official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
According to officials, Indian authorities conduct surprise inspections to ensure compliance with environmental regulations and have ordered factory closures in cases of serious violations.
However, many clandestinely resume operations within a short time, officials said.
Between January and March 2025, the Meghalaya government issued closure notices to at least seven factories following a midnight inspection that uncovered violations, including excessive emissions and malfunctioning pollution control equipment, among others.
Joyson Sangma, whose village abuts an industrial park where he is employed as a security guard, said they are forced to sweep their homes at least four times a day and avoid hanging clothes to prevent them from being stained by soot and ash from nearby factories.
“I don’t have any pressing illness right now but who knows what it is doing to my body in the long term — since we are breathing the toxic air in every day.”
Doctors said that repeated exposure to pollutants can have long-term consequences, particularly for children. “The ill effects of air pollution start in-utero and last a lifetime,” said Dr Rashna Dass Hazarika, of Doctors for Clean Air, a country-wide network of health professionals advocating for cleaner air. “Long-term exposure causes allergic disorders affecting the skin, lung and eyes in children. It also increases risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, heart disease, strokes, and cancers in adults,” she said.
No accountability
India grapples with severe air pollution every winter — as cold, dense air traps a deadly cocktail of dust, vehicular emissions, and smoke from farm fires in Punjab and Haryana, choking the residents of north India. Delhi holds the grim title of most polluted capital in the world.
But unlike Delhi, which sees brief periods of improved air quality, Byrnihat’s pollution levels remain consistently poor throughout the year, data shows.
Villagers have staged protests urging government intervention, but despite India’s pollution control authority designating Byrnihat as a “critically polluted area” in 2018, and at least two action plans being drafted since then, progress has been slow.
The town’s location on the Assam-Meghalaya border complicates the issue, as no single authority holds full responsibility for the problem. However, after the recent report by IQAir, both states have agreed to form a joint action and coordination committee to address the crisis, and work together.
“There is no proper accountability since the area is shared by two states,” said a Meghalaya government official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Leaving the likes of Halim and his family to suffer. “We are poor people; we have no choice but to stay here,” he said.